Here is a four part review of Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins, by Arminian scholar and President of Asbury Theological Seminary, Dr. Timothy C. Tennent Part 1: http://timothytennent.com/2011/03/love-wins-part-one-why-rob-bell-needs-to-return-to-seminary%E2%80%A6-and-bring-along-quite-a-few-contemporary-evangelical-pastors/ Part 2: http://timothytennent.com/2011/03/why-rob-bell-needs-to-return-to-seminary%e2%80%a6-and-bring-along-quite-a-few-contemporary-evangelical-pastors/ Part 3: http://timothytennent.com/2011/03/part-three-why-rob-bell-needs-to-return-to-seminary-and-bring-along-quite-a-few-contemporary-evangelical-pastors-cont/ Part…
General
Some Good News: New Barna Study Reveals that There Is No Significant Growth in Numbers Towards Calvinism among Church Leaders
For the past decade, the well known polling organization, the Barna Group, has been tracking the numbers of pastors who identify their churches as “Calvinist or Reformed” vs. “Wesleyan or Arminian”. The report of their…
Supercalvinisticexpialidocious
One of our memnbers commented that Bob Passantino was a great apologist for the Christian faith, extremely well read and knowledgeable, who died prematurely and that he was also an outspoken critic of Calvinism. Here…
Why I Am an Arminian, Part 2 of 2
This is the second half of a paper, the first half of which attempted to make a positive case for Arminianism. This second half deals with objections that Calvinists have traditionally made to Arminianism, and offers answers to those objections from the Arminian point of view.
Objections from Reformed Theology
The above outline [in part 1] of the Arminian position purposely makes its case without reference to the Calvinistic objections that have been made to the various points. A summary of these follows. (It should go without saying that this section does not pretend to give an orderly or complete presentation of the Calvinist position. It merely responds point by point to the Arminian position represented above.) Letters in parentheses refer to the acronym TULIP, and thus to the various points of “five point” Calvinism.
Why I Am an Arminian, Part 1 of 2
The following paper is meant to be an overview of what I believe with regard to the doctrine of Divine election. The first half, contained in this post, will explain why Arminianism–the rejection of unconditional divine election of specific individuals to salvation–is so often defended only in reaction to the Calvinist position, and will attempt to make a positive, Biblical case for Arminianism, without specific reference to the Calvinist position. The second half of the paper will discuss the Calvinist critique of Arminianism and attempt to respond to that critique from the Arminian point of view. The paper as a whole is merely intended to be an overview, not an exhaustive examination of the issues that surround divine election; a close exegetical study of the Biblical passages that bear upon divine election is necessary to decide upon one position or another.
Should a Calvinist and an Arminian (Or Other Theologically Divided Believers) Marry?
Russell Moore, “Should We Marry if We’re Theologically Divided?” We offer the above link of an example of our heart when we think of our Calvinist siblings in the Lord. This article deals with a…
Why Christians Don’t React With Violence
This post came from SEA member Dale Wayman’s blog Ironstrikes which was taken from the blog of Mike Lee While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob, with…
Roger Olson, Thoughts about “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation”
Recently a group of non-Calvinist Southern Baptists wrote and signed “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation.” I certainly have no objection to a group of non-Calvinists pushing back…
William W. Klein, Review of *Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism*
Click on the link: William W. Klein, Review of David L. Allen and Steve W. Lemke, eds. Whosoever Will. A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2010.
The Sermons of Dr. Vincent G. Artese Online
The sermons of Wesleyan-Arminian pastor Dr. Vincent G. Artese, who serves at Pilgrim’s Pathway Christian Church in Monroe, Connecticut, may be found online here: http://www.pilgrimspathway.org/Sermons.htm.
The Arminian vs. Calvinist Recall Notice
One of our members drew attention to a clever comparison of God’s offer in the gospel to a manufacturer issuing a recall notice. It struck me as Arminian in orientation. So, I thought it would…
Time Magazine Identifies “The New Calvinism” as Number 3 of 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now
That’s right. Lamentably, the Calvinist resurgence has made such an impact that Time Magazine has noticed it and diagnosed its influence to be even greater than we might have thought in its cover story for…
“Arminians Despise the Sovereignty of God”
written by SEA member, Roy Ingle I saw this posted on Twitter and have received this complaint before. The reasoning is that in Calvinism God is allowed to be sovereign so that all that comes…
Arminius on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ
Arminius on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ submitted by SEA member, Roy Ingle VII. The Son is the second person in the Holy Trinity, the Word of the Father, begotten of the…
How do you know when you are righteous?
By Dr. Dale Wayman
It seems to me that some people have more faith in their relationship with God than I do. I hear people talking about how God does special things for them. For example, I hear people say, “God made this sunny day just for me. I prayed that God would let the weather be nice and sunny and dry so that I would have a good day on my birthday.” I think, “Really? God put in a high pressure system over where you are today just so you could have a good day?” I then imagine a farmer in the same region praying, “Lord, today, could you make it rain really good? My crops aren’t doing well and they could use the moisture.” So, now we have competing prayers. How does God know who to listen to?
Roger Olson, “For God So Loved the World”
This is the heart of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and therefore of authentic Christianity: the incarnation of God as “one of us.” Take it away and Christianity is little more…
Do Arminians Believe in the Sovereignty of God?
Do Arminians believe in the sovereignty of God? If one has only ever read Calvinistic books, the answer would seem to be a no-brainer, for according to most Calvinists, an Arminian is by definition someone who denies God’s sovereignty. For example, notable Calvinist exponent Edwin H. Palmer (1922 – 1980) explicitly declared that “the Arminian denies the sovereignty of God”.1
Funny though it may seem, there are even those who reject the tenets of Calvinism, yet try and take a middle road between Calvinism and Arminianism. These so-called ‘non-Calvinists’ are usually known by the maxim, “I am neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian, but simply a Bible-believer.” I should know; I used to be one.
Why Arminians Find Calvinist Conversions Offensive
written by SEA member Roy Ingle I had a friend of mine who embraced Reformed theology. He had been an Arminian for many years and then he begin to read various Calvinist authors such as…
8 Things Wesleyans Need to Learn from Neo-Calvinism
8 Things Wesleyans Need to Learn from Neo-Calvinism Although not a SEA member, Caleb Friedman makes some great observations for Arminians and Wesleyan-Arminians in particular. I’m a Wesleyan. Always have been, always will be. However,…
What Fell in
What Fell in “the Fall”?
written by SEA member, Roy Ingle
F. Lagard Smith in his book Troubling Questions for Calvinists (and all the rest of us) asks 15 questions about the Fall in Genesis 3:1-7.
I post his questions here without comment.
[Editor’s note: Smith is not an Arminian, but a Semi-Pelagian. Yet these questions can still be helpful in thinking about the issue of human depravity.]
1. What do you think? Were Adam and Eve free moral beings, fully able to decide between obeying and disobeying God without any predetermined secret eternal will of God preempting their freedom to choose right from wrong?
a) If not, is there any way that God Himself is not responsible for their sin and “the Fall”?
b) If so, were they simply exceptions to an otherwise universal rule of predestination and sovereign causation?
2. Were Adam and Eve either totally or partially depraved before “the Fall”?
3. What about immediately after “the Fall”?
Recent Posts
How Does Arminianism Respond to Calvinism’s Deterministic Claims and Its Appeal to Texts that Seem to Suggest God Ordains Evil?
Steve Lemke on How Jesus’ Encounter with the Rich Young Ruler Implies Grace Is Resistible
Three Brief Book Reviews by Roy Ingle
William Burt Pope on Prevenient Grace and Free Will
